Maha to probe TDR approvals in SGNP rehabilitation scheme

Maharashtra to investigate potential irregularities in Transfer of Development Rights for slum rehabilitation in Sanjay Gandhi National Park, says minister.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government will investigate whether there were any irregularities while approving the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for developers in connection with the rehabilitation of slum residents living in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), forest minister Ganesh Naik announced on Tuesday in the legislative council.

Maha to probe TDR approvals in SGNP rehabilitation scheme

“We will probe if there was any irregularity or corruption in approving TDR to builders. If found guilty, action will be taken against those officials,” Naik said. The minister was responding to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Rajhans Singh’s calling attention motion, which is used to request a minister to make a statement on a matter of public importance.

Singh brought up the delay in rehabilitating over 15,000 slum residents living in SGNP. He alleged that state government officials showed enthusiasm while approving TDR in the rehabilitation scheme but did not show the same enthusiasm while giving homes to the slum residents.

TDR is a tool that allows landowners to transfer unused or additional construction rights from one property to another. It’s used by authorities to compensate landowners for land acquisition or restrictions on construction. Landowners can then transfer the unused rights to another property where there are no restrictions.

“We have around 120 acres of land in Aarey in two land parcels. But local tribals living in hamlets will be given priority in rehabilitation on that land as they are natives of that forest land and have been living there since before it was declared a national forest. We will require more land to rehabilitate others who encroached in forest areas but are eligible [for relocation] due to the rehabilitation criteria and court orders. CM Fadnavis has asked the administration to identify the land in Thane. Once we get the land, our agencies will undertake the construction of buildings for rehabilitation,” added Naik.

The Maharashtra government recently told the Bombay high court that it would rehabilitate eligible slum residents who are being evicted from SGNP in the Thane district. The Thane district collector has identified around 290 hectares (722 acres) of land to construct tenements for the eligible slum dwellers in villages in Thane, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Ambernath, Shahapur, and Murbad talukas, the state government said in an affidavit filed in the high court.

The high court had first ordered the rehabilitation of residents living in slums in SGNP in 1997. The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) was assigned the responsibility for the scheme, under which the eligible residents would have to pay ₹7,000 for homes. In the first phase, the SRA rehabilitated 11,359 slum residents in Chandivali. In 2008, 16,651 residents paid the charges, out of which 13,486 were declared eligible. The rehabilitation of 1,795 families from tribal hamlets was also proposed.

In 2018, a high-level committee recommended rehabilitation on 90 acres of land in Aarey. However, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) did not get any response to its tenders. Since then, the rehabilitation has been pending.